Project Description

I need to greatly improve the interface of an online search engine that I have designed. It allows users to search a repository of feature films (using word searches) and generates lines of text from the close caption files and a screen shot in the results. I need help making it more user friendly and in adding new features to it.

Goals

1.) An improved user interface for the Film Search Engine
2.) A portal that would allow the search capabilities of the engine to be used with the film and TV resources of archive.org
3.) New features for users

Impact

The Film Search Engine is a tool designed to be used by the public, and making it better would therefore improve a potentially very important resource for film scholars and the general public. It will be an ongoing project, that will live on for many years after the student programmers graduate.

Constraints

1.) The project must use the extant database structure and Python scripts that operate as the starting point (though changes, even wholesale ones, are absolutely possible).
2.) The project must adapt to the requirements of the film and television storage at archive.org
3.) Since this is a public facing resource hosted indirectly by Bucknell, the project must respect Bucknell’s operating procedures for such resources.

Resources

Nothing beyond a facility with Python and with database design is required.